This contest has inspired one hundred and three stories and six new authors.

Cookie's Resolve

Keep rollin', rollin', rollin'
Though the streams are swollen
Keep them dawwgies rollin', Rawhide

This blog's views, thoughts, and opinions belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the management of Big Closet, the Writing Contest committee, or any other group or individual.

I have long contended that there is very little correlation between the number of kudos, hits, and comments received and the quality of the story.

Resolution Revelations

Aylesea has written an above-average story that brings us inside the life of a depressed young lady. This story is a good example of what humor can add to any story.

View From a Bridge

Jo, Emma, and I love to write. We love to have our stories read and appreciated.

A primary goal of the current contest is to spur more people to read more stories. With that in mind, I've prepared remarks about fifteen stories entered in this contest. Eventually, I will post remarks about every story entered. Emma will be posting similar lists.

Please give these stories a chance.

Finding Joy

Having trouble finding inspiration for a 2024 New Year's Writing Contest Story? Or maybe, for your second competition story. (There's no limit to the number of times you can enter, although you can only win one prize.)

By the end of today, the blog announcing the New Year’s Resolution Writing Contest will have received over three thousand hits. That level of activity has resulted in thirty-seven new stories published on BC.

We don’t have comparative statistics, but it appears the level of comment activity is up.

A new author is among those who have posted a story entry.

Given that the contest opened for submissions less than a week ago -- we’re pleased with the initial results.

Judging fiction is subjective. . .based on personal feelings and opinions.

I have helped judge several Big Closet contests in the past. In those instances, I picked the top three or five stories.

For the current writing contest (entries to commence 1/1), I’ve been asked to assign a number between one and one hundred for each story. Emma Anne Tate will also assign a number between one and one hundred. We will not consult or know what each other has assigned for a “score.” The total of our scores will be the score for the story. Highest score wins.

A lot of fairly nonsensical things were stated by the Republican presidential candidates in last night’s debate. Some were hateful, that concerned our community.

Recently a story was published with a rape scene.

The story was tagged “explicit content.” Beyond that, the story unfolded logically and gave plenty of notice to the reader that a rape would occur. Further, the story was written by an author who writes femdom stories and has published them here for two decades.

I wouldn’t have read the story if the controversy had not occurred and been chronicled in other blogs. I assume several other readers read the story for the same reason.

I've written a new novella called Andy and Dawn.

The story involves a young man, in 1960, who is discovered by a Hollywood talent agent while washing cars. Of course, through a series of events the young man comes to question his/her gender identity. The story is populated with pop culture figures of that era.

As usual, it is my intent to give this book to Doppler Press. All proceeds will go to supporting this site. Rasufelle is already working on the cover art.

Time brings perspective. My writing process has remained consistent over the years. Once I have a decent manuscript, I set it aside to give me the perspective of a reader when I do a final edit.

In early May, things on BC seemingly became toxic for me. I had lost my rudder and needed a change in perspective. So – I took a time out.

Nothing about BC had changed to elicit the feelings I was experiencing. The fault rested with me.

Just over forty years ago I was sitting in a Palm Springs hotel bar when Reggie Jackson came in and sat on the stool next to me.

I asked Mr. October what time it was just so I could tell people Reggie had given me the time of day.

That was a good day for me.

So was today. Teflon Don finally was held accountable. All the Trump wannabees should have learned today that doubling down until you win or the clock runs out doesn't always work.

During my business career, I was mainly in marketing. Selling involves a lot of rejection. In order to make a sale you have to take a risk. The process involves a lot of very necessary motivational support. One of the ways I pushed myself was by keeping a myriad of statistics.

This habit has carried over into my writing. I have a massive spreadsheet that records statistics for my stories and books.

During the last three months, the over twenty books Doppler Press has published for me have received more total reviews than they received for the last over ten years.

This week I watched the latest segment of Ted Lasso. They skillfully use Raindrops Keep Fallin on My Head in a scene with Jamie teaching Roy how to ride a bike.

I started thinking about songs in movies and eventually created a list of my favorite songs used in movies.

I was amazed to see two Dolly Parton songs in my top ten. Most people probably think of I Will Always Love You as a Whitney Houston song -- but Dolly wrote it and made over ten million dollars in royalties from the Whitney version.

The other day I mentioned in a comment that Frankie Laine sang my favorite TV theme song. . .Rawhide. That show included one of my favorite TV characters, Rowdy Yates, which started Clint Eastwood's career. https://www.google.com/search?q=rawhide+theme+song&rlz=1C1CH...

Yesterday, I posted a dystopian short story about Paul Conklin and his son Karl.

This morning my daughter delivered a baby boy.

We had no idea what gender the child would be or what names they were considering. They had elected not to know the gender.

They're naming him "Karl."

I'm elated and mystified.

The world seems a thousand times better than it seemed to be when I wrote the story.

Jill

One of the best features of Big Closet is the ignore list.

My parochial high school days included boys' religion class.

The instructor was a sixtyish years old priest who was bored and didn't care who knew it.

One of my classmates asked for his interpretation of a Biblical passage.

His answer shaped my view of the Bible and those who thump it.

All of this has been said before. But the site readership is constantly changing.

Some have suggested that BC is littered by offers to buy my books.

And, I would have to agree that efforts to sell my books are ubiquitous.

However, the sale of my books isn't making me rich. In fact, all of the revenue from the sales goes directly to BC. I don't get any of it.

Merry Christmas to all!

Five years ago we downsized to our retirement home going from six to two bedrooms. Yesterday three grandchildren, four dogs and eight adults celebrated what amounted to our first day of Christmas. Other than a minor mishap where the butter was left in the microwave and never found its way into the pancakes we survived and are on to five more days of "close" family fun.

I've hung my Kindle on the mantel waiting for Maximum Warp Chapter Ten to drop. Emma. . .it is Friday!

Barney Frank popped up on TV celebrating the Same Sex Marriage act.

My stomach turned at the sight of him.

Am I wrong or did this twisted old man not set back trans rights several decades when he caved to get LGBQ equality passed?

Jill

Amy Schnieder won the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions. She outplayed a formidable field to win the $250,000 prize.

She has become the most successful female Jeopardy contestant ever, and is Jeopardy's first trans champion.

Jill

At the end of a long and carefully thought-out comment in another blog, Iolanthe said, “It is always a little distressing when another reader looks down their nose at stories or categories that I prize, but oh well. We're not all in the same place; we don't all have the same tastes.”

As usual, Iolanthe has caused me to think.